


The Wolf in Joy

by Ladyhawk_lhflu



Series: The Two Sides of the Moon [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Animagus, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-12-24 13:27:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21100205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladyhawk_lhflu/pseuds/Ladyhawk_lhflu
Summary: Of course the wolf wants playmates. Those playmates find out how much work it takes to keep it happy. But they're determined to do it. Because the other side of the wolf gives them joy.





	The Wolf in Joy

Remus dragged his feet as soon as he smelled the muskiness of the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. "Why are we in the tunnel?! I don't want to go there. I hate it!"

He could hear skin slap skin, then James muttered, "I told you he'd be upset!"

Sirius's voice was quiet but insistent. "There's a little yard space behind it. We don't have to go in it. I'm sorry, Moony. We just need *complete* privacy. And we need your help with something."

"Then why am I blindfolded?" Remus calmed at Sirius's whine. The wolf told him the dark haired boy was still trying to please. There was no reason to worry about betrayal. But why were they being so secretive?

James took Remus's arm from Sirius's grip, to guide him. "Step up here. Now come this way. Okay, sit on the ground right here." Remus took a deep breath and followed the instructions.

Once Remus was seated with his back against a tree, James said, "Sirius, you first."

Remus could hear a change in the breathing around him. And he could feel some odd surge of magic. But there was no way he could have expected what he saw when the blindfold came off.

Nor could he have expected the wolf's reaction.

The most amazing sight was in front of him when his eyes opened. A large black dog with Sirius's grey eyes. How did it have the exact same eyes that eased his nightmares last night? And where was Sirius? Remus looked around but didn't see the other boy.

But those eyes..were they his? They were. The wolf nearly roared into his mind that he was looking at their beautiful one.

Remus stared at the dog in shock until it bounded onto his lap and licked his face.

"Stop it, you prat! The full moon is tonight. Don't make Moony sick!" James snapped.

The animal tried to back away apologetically. But that was when the wolf took a hold of Remus.

The wolf wrapped his arms around the dog so tightly that it yelped. James reached to help the dog, but then amber eyes met his, and Remus growled.

"Sirius, change back. Now!" James nearly yelled, afraid that the wolf would hurt one of them.

A moment later, there was a boy in Remus's arms. "Sorry. Sorry, Moony. I didn't meant to upset him," Sirius said quietly with his head bowed.

"You didn't upset him," Remus whispered against the other boy's hair. "He was very happy. He was trying to keep James from taking you away."

Sirius gave Remus a huge smile. "Then it's perfect."

"It's illegal! What were you thinking?!" Remus exclaimed worriedly.

Just then, a rat crawled onto Remus's leg. He moved to brush it away, then realized it reminded him a bit of.."Peter?!"

Remus looked to Sirius for confirmation. But all Sirius did was point to James. No, that was a stag. But it held its head in that same tilt that James did when he was asking questions about something that interested him.

"Oh, you're bloody gorgeous, James," Sirius said as if he had heard the stag's question.

Remus ran a shaky hand through his hair as he realized what his friends had done. Becoming an animagus was hard. It included incantations, potions, even lightning storms. You had to follow the directions exactly, or disaster might result. That was even before they had to worry about the legality of being an unregistered animagus.

Remus would have argued with them if he had known about it. But he hadn't suspected a thing. How had they hidden the potion from him? When was the last lightning storm? Remus might have slept through the last one. He had wondered at why the weather forecast was included on the parchment James had spelled to show the waxing and waning of the moon. But now it all made sense. Except for one thing.

"Why did you do it?" Remus asked, worried that they had done something illegal just because they were bored. But the wolf prodded him as soon as that thought came up. Why the secrecy if it had simply been a distraction?

James changed back and sat next to Remus. "Because you need help. You told us that the wolf can't bear to feel trapped. You spent three days in the infirmary last month. The moons are getting bad again. We needed to do something. This way, we can let him out to play for a bit."

"No! It could hurt you! Or it could run away and hurt somebody else." Remus's eyes grew wide and his breathing hitched. This was starting to sound like his worst nightmare instead of a way to help him.

Sirius could see that the lycanthrope was turning green in the face, so he wrapped an arm around him. "That's why we are sitting here. We need your help with the wards we're going to use tonight."

Remus thought for a moment. They risked a lot for his sake. For a good reason. He was as frightened of the damage the wolf was doing to him as they were. He was beginning to think the wolf would kill him at some point.

So he took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll help you." 

James waved his wand. Suddenly blue light markers appeared in the corners of the clearing. "Is this enough space?"

Remus stood up and walked around to each marker. He moved two of them back, closer to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Then he pointed out a dip in the grass next to a tree. "You're going to have to cast a second ward here. Most people cast in straight lines. But the wolf might be able to crawl under the ward if you don't reinforce it here."

James studied the spot then nodded. "Is Padfoot bigger or smaller than your wolf?"

"Who?" Remus looked at James in confusion.

A moment later, a wet nose touched the hand at his side.

"Oh!" Remus smiled as he petted the top of the dog's head automatically. He pulled his hand away as he realized he was actually petting one of his best friends. But then Sirius whined. So he put his hand back.

Peter rolled his eyes. "He's too good at being a dog."

Remus grinned and nodded, then focused on James' question. "He's just a little smaller."

James motioned to the dog . Then the three of them cast wards to mark off their space and watched as the big dog tried to break them or crawl under them.

After an hour of this, Remus was satisfied. So was the wolf. It had seemed impossible, but just maybe both of them would get what they wanted that night.

====

James stared at the Whomping Willow with his heart pounding. They were really doing this. They were going to take care of the wolf for Remus.

Sirius was fidgeting with impatience. Peter looked scared to death. James knew he had to be the one in charge that night. To keep Sirius contained. To give Peter a place of safety. Because this time, Remus couldn't help. 

James didn't know what he would have to do to make the wolf happy. But Remus had given him plenty of warnings earlier about what not to do. 

"Don't let down your guard," Remus had said as they had all sat against the tree the three of them were now facing. "The wolf can be clever. Dad thinks it can access my thoughts at times. Never be human in its sight. It will instantly want to tear you apart if you are. Leave if it wounds you. It shouldn't be upset by your animal forms, but if you somehow make it angry, it might still kill you."

The three of them had sworn to follow Remus's advice and to force the wolf back into the house before the morning transformation so that Remus wasn't left outside, vulnerable to the Forest creatures.

James could see the determination to uphold those vows in his companions' eyes now, even through the excitement and fear. So he nodded to Peter. "Go ahead."

Peter changed into his rat, then scurried onto one of the Willow's branches to hit the knot that stopped its movement. James and Sirius quickly ran to the clearing, with Peter on James' shoulder. They set the wards exactly as Remus had ordered. Then they changed, and James opened the back door to the Shrieking Shack with an antler.

The howling they had tried to ignore as they set the wards instantly ceased. A moment later, amber eyes appeared in the darkness.

Sirius whined, just as he had when Remus had stopped petting him that afternoon. Suddenly, the huge creature that hid their friend inside itself bounded into the clearing.

James had expected the creature to be big. But he hadn't expected it to be quick. He only had a second to put himself between the wolf and Padfoot as the wolf leapt toward the dog.

He had been worried that the wolf was attacking. But as he stared into the amber eyes, he could see it shaking with the excitement that Sirius had shown earlier. After realizing he had been wrong, he poked the wolf with his antler. There needed to be some basic rules here. Not too rough. Follow my orders.

The wolf growled for a moment, but settled when James took a step back. He hoped that meant that it would listen.

He made sure that Wormtail (why, oh why, did he let Sirius name Peter's rat?) was firmly settled on his back as he moved to the edge of the wards to watch the canines play.

Sirius could feel the joy in the wolf at being outside. But it was more than that. The wolf was focused on him. On Padfoot. In the past months, he had held off on responding to the wolf's overtures towards him with anything more than a willingness to be petted and hugged. He hadn't wanted to rush Remus into anything that would make him uncomfortable.

But the wolf wanted more. It was obvious in the way he wrestled with Padfoot, in the way he was never more than six inches from him. Sirius knew the wolf wanted to claim him right then and there.

But Sirius shied away and ran to Prongs each time the wolf attempted the claim. He couldn't do that to Remus. He couldn't let the wolf take what should belong to Remus, if he wanted it.

He was never so glad that James watched him carefully. Each time the wolf tried to do more than wrestle, Prongs was there putting an antler in between them or stomping at the wolf's paws.

Luckily, the wolf seemed to accept the rules after a few rounds of this.

But Sirius could see in the stag's eyes that they would be having a discussion about this in the morning.

Just as Sirius was beginning to tire, Wormtail let out a squeak from the corner where they had laid a parchment with a time spell on it. So Sirius quickly ran into the Shack with the wolf fast on his heels. He ran towards the dilapidated stairs, the space under which was barely big enough to let Padfoot out the other side. But the wolf tried to wedge itself through the space. Which gave the dog enough time to run back out the door and for the stag to close it.

Then they headed to the school to wait for the sun to rise.

====

The discussion took place in the Astronomy Tower as Peter slept on the stone floor by their sides.

"Do you want to be his?" James asked as he covered Peter with his father's cloak.

Sirius nodded with a sincerity that James had never seen before in the dark haired boy. "I think I love him."

James patted his friend's shoulder. "Then you need to tell him. He thinks you've been humoring the wolf."

Sirius leaned again the tower wall with a heavy sigh. "He doesn't think he's worthy of love. I heard his father talk to him once. The first thing he asked was 'Were you a burden to anyone?'"

"That's insane. We burden him more than he burdens us. And he's a good person. I've heard so many stories of the human part of werewolves being as dark as the creature. But neither side is all that dark in Moony." James crossed his arms as if to ward off Lyall Lupin's comments.

"Lucius Malfoy is much darker than either of them," Sirius agreed. A moment later, a ray of sun shone on the floor in front of them. 

Sirius stared at it, then looked James in the eye. It was time to see to the needs of the human side of their friend. "Take care of Wormtail."

James gave a sharp nod. "Take care of Moony."

Sirius stood and started toward the infirmary. As he reached the door, he knew that he had a tough job to do. But he was determined to convince Remus that the wolf's joy could belong to Remus too.

**Author's Note:**

> The animagus spell details are from the Harry Potter wiki, which seems to have updated its knowledge lately on the subject.


End file.
